If a character's suddenly spouting information that's supposed to bring you up to date, it can seem artificial or contrived.

They were both academics, but my dad had to get a job on the railway, and my mum had to get a job in the Post Office. It was pretty hard in terms of the racism they had to endure.

Los Angeles is the only place that I can honestly say I have ever called home.

Whenever I go back to London, I have this horrible feeling that something bad will happen, and I won't be able to get back to America. It's a nightmare feeling.

Even though people may be well known, they hold in their hearts the emotions of a simple person for the moments that are the most important of those we know on earth: birth, marriage and death.

The language 'It's too late' is very unsuitable for most environmental issues. It's too late for the dodo and for people who've starved to death already, but it's not too late to prevent an even bigger crisis. The sooner we act on the environment, the better.

On the plus side, death is one of the few things that can be done as easily lying down .

I mean, Sting is one of my great buddies and I love him to death.